National Association of Professional Women Miami President Aly Ramos addresses NAPW members at recent
meeting hosted by Victoria’s Collection.

Doral Farmer’s Market is a real big hit!

By Gloria Burns

Doral’s Farmer’s Market continues to draw larger crowds and some great new vendors. It’s not only a great place to pick up fresh produce and great organic food items, but is always educational if one takes time to talk to the vendors.

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After mass on Sundays, this is a must for this writer who brought along Valerie, Melanie and Albert Silva on a recent visit. They loved sampling Martica’s Sweet Creations flans, sampling oils from Soy Natural, and tasting pates Isabel Andreu’s Pate Folie. Another highlight: the “Out of the Ashes” Foundation booth to check out their multi-colored organic eggs and learn about their upcoming summer camp. Of course, that’s only a short list of the many booths that offer a great assortment of food favorites from Doral’s diverse cultural community.

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National Association of Professional Women Miami President Aly Ramos addresses NAPW members at recentmeeting hosted by Victoria’s Collection.

IN OTHER activity, the National Association of Professional Women’s Miami Chapter attracted several women from the Doral area at a recent meeting held at Nancy Concepcion’s Victoria’s Collection at the Doubletree MACC on March 25. New NAPW Miami President Aly Ramos, of QueBelle welcomed prospective members as well as longtimers to a networking evening that brought together some amazing women, a few of whom you may see on Shark Tank in the future. Among them: Jacki Stanley, of Bobbi-Toads. If you have little girls, check out <www.bobbitoads.com> for tennis shoes with raised toes on the top that can be painted with non toxic and removable nail polish. The story behind this creative shoe is even better as it came in a vision…. more on that another time. Among the many enjoying the evening were Maria Mendez, of Amtrust, Blanca Ceballos of Blanca Communications, and Maria Martinez, Team Concepts, to mention a few.

DORAL’S Relay for Life Cancer Walk, at JC Bermudez Park on April 25-26, was a great success as numerous teams participated in a night long celebration with decorated booths, lots of food and items for sale to raise additional funds for the team efforts. A luminary ceremony and great non-stop entertainment made it a memorable evening for all.

Prior to the Walk, one creative Doral Business Council team recruited help from the GFWC Coral Gables Woman’s Club to orchestrate a fundraiser sponsored by Seasons 52 in Coral Gables. Sharing the proceeds with NPH USA (formerly called Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos), the Club will be donating $500 to the DBC Relay for Life team effort. The CGWC and the DBC Team are most grateful for the support of Seasons 52 and Denise Erwin who continue to be great community partners with countless non-profits in our community.

Another team held a fundraising night at Anthony’s Coal Fire Pizza with the restaurant offering to donate a percentage of its sales to their Relay for Life team. Yet another offered Zumba classes as an example of how creative these teams became. The majority of team members emailed friends and family.

ARTISTS Portfolio continues it’s afterhours art night on the last Friday of the month with Lucy Tamajon teaching different techniques. Participants enjoyed socializing with drinks and snacks before creating a piece of art to take home. It’s always a good way to start a Friday night at 5:30 p.m. with many of those attending moving the party to Charlie’s Bistro in Costa del Sol for Karaoke Night at 8. Charlie’s has regulars but new talent is always welcomed.

Until next time, keep making each day count!

If you would like to submit information for this column, please send your news via e-mail to <gloriagalburns@aol.com>.

Robert Verna shows off a black box,
similar to missing Malaysia Airlines
plane’s at Doral Farmer’s Market.
Verna cleverly re-purposed his
as a docking station.